Horizontal wells drilled and completed in unconsolidated sand reservoirs have become feasible recently, due to new technology and completion methods. Wells of this type require sand control, for example such as long open hole gravel packs or the installation of mechanical sand exclusion devices (slotted liners, prepacked screens, etc.). Successful wells have been completed with horizontal techniques, producing intervals as long as 1800 ft. (550 m) using these methods of sand control.
Usually the wells are drilled with conventional drilling muds to the top of the pay zone and casing is set. The cement is then drilled out to the casing shoe and the shoe is tested. The drilling mud is then displaced with a "low damage potential drilling fluid" generally consisting of polymers, viscosity enhancers and particles for building a filter cake. The particles are usually graded salt (NaCl) or graded calcium carbonate (CaCO.sub.3). These compounds are used because they are soluble in undersaturated brines or hydrochloric acid.
After the open hole interval has been drilled to total depth, the gravel pack screen or sand exclusion device is placed in the open hole interval. To do this it becomes necessary to circulate the drilling fluid from the open hole so that the well can be gravel packed or the sand exclusion setting can be tested. Displacement of the drilling fluid with a solids-free completion brine is necessary. Concern about the physical erosion of the filter cake with the completion fluid is also always an issue. That is, the filter cake should be durable and stable enough to permit the completion or other operation to take place and protect the well bore during the entire operation.
The ideal drilling mud or drill-in fluid would mechanically seal all pore openings exposed to the well bore, stay intact during completion operations, then be easily removed by production of oil or gas. Problems arise in designing these fluids or muds because production zones vary in pressure, permeability, porosity and formation configuration. It would be desirable if fluids could be devised which would easily form an impermeable filter cake to prevent the loss of expensive completion fluids to the formations and which effectively protects the original permeable formation during various completion operations such as gravel packing or well bore workovers. At the same time, however, it is also highly desirable for the filter cake to be easily removable at the beginning of production causing little or no damage to the formation.
Further, while the use of sized salt (e.g. sodium chloride) as a bridging agent in a saturated sodium chloride brine has been used extensively, the technique has disadvantages including (1) a minimum fluid density of 10.3 to 10.5 lb/gal; (2) a maximum temperature limitation of about 250.degree. F; and (3) insufficient lubricating properties in many situations. It would be desirable particularly if these three problems could be minimized or reduced.